10th EC & 11th WC Artistic Events, 13th EC & 20th WC in Formation Skydiving, & 1st EC & 2nd WC in Speed Skydiving Teuge, September 2015: Day 3

Foggy start to the day . . . . .

Wednesday 9 September 2015:  A rather autumnal misty morning greeted everyone first thing, which put paid to the 08.00hrs wheels-off start for FS 4-Way Open and Female.  The forecast remains encouraging and it's anticipated that the fog will burn off within the next hour or so.

With most of yesterday's jumps being confined to the end of the day, both panels of Judges worked late into the night and the FS Panel were able to finalise 2 rounds each of 4-Way Open, 4-Way Female and 8-Way Open. VFS have almost completed round 3, with two teams still to jump.

The excitement of Round 1 in 8-Way spilled over into Round 2 as France's Aerodyne Maubeuge set a new European Record of the Longest Sequence with a clean round of 30. Félicitations à l'équipe!

The Artistics Panel also worked late into the night and managed to judge and publish Round 1 in both Freefly and Freestyle Skydiving. The first two places in Freestyle have France's France 2 Solaris and France 1 Flynamic with 8.8 and 8.5 respectively with the IMPS team from Russia in third place with 7.8. In Freefly Russia's Tunnel Rats have taken the lead - albeit it is only the first round - with an 8.8. Once again France makes its presence felt with France 1 Style and France 2 Good Vibes in second and third place respectively with 8.1 and 7.9.

11.00hrs: The sun has appeared as expected, its warmth having burnt off the remaining mist and with it a brilliant blue sky is today's backdrop.  The morning's jumping has started with the planned FS 4-Way - Open and Female - and hopefully the Speed Skydiving guys will get an opportunity to get airborne later this morning.

14.30hrs:  Two of the three Cessna Supervans were fully operational throughout the afternoon and with the timed altitude window, the Speed Skydivers were making their first flights just after midday. Some good speeds were being recorded, except for one poor individual who landed without his ProTrack, believing it had come off somewhere between emplaning and landing. Despite a zero score in the first round, the 'throwaway' round meant he didn't lose out points-wise.

With 50% of the rounds completed in 4-Way Open, 4-Way Female and 4-Way VFS, the top three positions haven't altered since Round 1

With the host nation's M8trix 8-Way team still to be judged for their Round 5 jump, they'll need a 13 to keep them in 3rd position, with the leaders, France and Russia, remaining in the respective 1st and 2nd positions. The Qatar Falcons are on their heels with just one point separating them as at Round 4. The real jewel in the 8-Way is Great Britain's Awkward Turtles, who have been welcomed into the 8-Way fold for their sheer gutsy determination. Gary Smith took them under his wing for a brief interlude and worked his magic on them. They in turn have repaid his skill and generosity by some very skilled flying.

By the end of the day the Speed guys had clocked up three rounds, with Marco Wiederkehr of Switzerland taking first place with a total of 1022.59. Great Britain's Michael Lovemore was not only in 2nd place with a score of 996.13, but had clocked up a remarkable speed of 503.86 km/h in Round 2 - the fastest flight so far in the competition. In doing so he's smashed his personal best and sets a a brand new GB National Record. If that isn't enough for one day, he joins an exclusive club of only 5 people who have ever flown in excess of 500kph. Congratulations Michael!

Given the height restrictions imposed, Thursday will continue with 4-Way Open and Female, with the remaining height-dependant disciplines stood down till mid-afternoon.